Abstract
PARTICULAR species of legume are nodulated only by appropriate species of Rhizobium. Thus R. leguminosarum, R. phaseoli and R. trifolii nodulate peas, French beans and clover, respectively. The basis of this specificity between the two partners of the symbiosis is not understood. Complete specificity is not always found, however. Although R. trifolii does not normally nodulate peas, induced mutants of this species able to nodulate this host have been described1 and some strains of Rhizobium isolated from clover nodules nodulated both clover and peas2. Selected clover lines have been nodulated by R. leguminosarum3. It has been reported that a non-rhizobial contaminant can occur in soybean nodules4 and that the presence of R. trifolii may allow R. meliloti to occupy clover root nodules (B. O. Gillberg, personal communication). We show here that the presence of R. leguminosarum can allow R. trifolii and R. phaseoli to enter pea nodules but that R. trifolii cannot fix nitrogen in the nodules of this ‘foreign’ host.
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JOHNSTON, A., BERINGER, J. Pea root nodules containing more than one Rhizobium species. Nature 263, 502–504 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/263502a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/263502a0
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